The Olympic Games is an international multi-sport event subdivided into summer and winter sporting events. The summer and winter games are each held every four years. The summer games are held during the first year of an Olympiad and the winter games during the third year. The Olympic Games are organized by the International Olympic Committee. The committee was founded in 1894. The first IOC Olympic Games were the 1896 Summer Olympics held in Athens, Greece. The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event organized by the International Olympic Committee. Athletes from all over the world participate in the event. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medal for the first place, silver for second and bronze for the third. Competitors are entered by a National Olympic Committee (NOC) to represent their country. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXIX Olympiad, was held from August 08, 2008 to August 24, 2008 in Beijing, China. It included 302 events (165 men’s events, 127 women’s events and 10 mixed events). A total of about 11,028 athletes participated in 38 different sports. The following were the 38 sports contested : Archery Athletics Badminton Baseball Basketball Beach Volleyball Boxing Canoe/Kayak Flatwater Canoe/Kayak Slalom Cycling BMX Cycling Mountain Bike Cycling Road Cycling Track Diving Equestrian Fencing Football Gymnastics Artistic Gymnastics Rhythmic Gymnastics Trampoline Handball Hockey Judo Modern Pentathlon Rowing Sailing Shooting Softball Swimming Synchronised Swimming Table Tennis Taekwando Tennis Triathlon Volleyball Water Polo Weightlifting Wrestling The participating countries were as follows: Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Antigua & Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia & Herzegovina Botswana Brazil British Virgin Islands Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Chinese Taipei Colombia Comoros DR Congo Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d'lvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Fiji Finland France F. S. Micronesia FYR Macedonia Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Great Britain Greece Grenada Guam Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Honduras Hong Kong, China Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati South Korea North Korea Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Aritilles New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Sao Tome and Príncipe Samoa San Marino Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United States Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe     The opening ceremony was held at the Beijing National Stadium on August 08, 2008. Athletes from each participating country attended the opening ceremony parade, preceded by their flag during the Parade of Nations. The closing ceremony was held on August 24, 2008. Athletes from 87 countries won medals. China won the most gold medals (51) for the first time ever. The United States won the most medals (110). The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games Medal Table is as follows: Rank Nation Gold Silver Bronze Total 1  China 51 21 28 100 2  U.S.A 36 38 36 110 3  Russia 23 21 28 72 4  Great Britain 19 13 15 47 5  Germany 16 10 15 41 6  Australia 14 15 17 46 7  South Korea 13 10 8 31 8  Japan 9 6 10 25 9  Italy 8 10 10 28 10  France 7 16 17 40

Click the following link to visit the official website of Beijing 2008 Olympic Games: http://en.beijing2008.cn/